Tom Szieber, Correspondent / Record Sports
With so much depth on both rosters, Bill Eickelberg knew his swim teams would be top-of-the-line this season. Yet, after four meets and seven wins among the boys and girls squads, he still believes the winter weather has prevented his teams from showcasing their best.
“On the boys side, we have yet to have a meet where we have had all our swimmers,” Eickelberg said. “We have had a bout of cold and flu, and we have yet to have our strongest lineup. The tough part of our schedule is after New Year’s. I am really curious to see what we can do at full strength.”
So far, though, so good for the Lions, who jumped out to a perfect 4-0 start on the girls side. The boys aren’t far behind, kicking off the year with three wins in their first four matches. Both dominated Harrison on Dec. 2, and each overwhelmed New Milford five days later. The girls took down Mahwah on Dec. 8, 114-54, but the boys dropped their matchup with the T-Birds, 104-64. They swept Garfield last Monday.
The girls have been led by their star, sophomore Elle Morse, and have gotten some big performances in distance events from junior Gabby Cintron. Junior Cat Castellon and freshman Maddie Racciati have also performed well. Seniors Andres Hernandez and Emilio Quintinar have been standouts for the boys, as has freshman Yoshi Nakahara. Sophomore Sam Golovin has been under the weather which Eickelberg feels has certainly affected the lineup.
All in all, though, the Lions are performing as their head coach expected. They are using their versatility and depth to churn out wins—something that figures to continue once they are healthy and at full strength.
“We are swimming well and I am happy with the work ethic in practice,” Eickelberg said. “We are still playing around with the lineup, but the whole staff is very pleased. They are hard workers, real good kids. We are pretty lucky.”
